In electronic circuits, the use of increasingly higher speed switching signals has necessitated control of impedance for signal transmission. This is commonly accomplished through the use of shielded twisted pairs in cable to cable connections and differential pairs in connections involving a printed circuit board. Existing differential pair or shielded twisted pair connectors designed to address this need generally make use of individual pins to carry separate signals.
These types of high speed connector systems are often desirable for use in applications, such as avionics, for example, in which the size and weight of connectors should be small, yet signal density is desired to be as high as possible. However, because existing differential and shielded twisted pair connectors make use of multiple pins, the contacts have the disadvantage of being very small and fragile in these types of applications. This has the further shortcoming in that, particularly in avionics and/or military applications, the connectors are often used in rugged environments in which fragility poses a risk that the connector will fail to operate properly. Thus, a choice must often be made between higher communication speeds with lower reliability or lower speeds with increased reliability.
Current connector systems in these applications have thus failed to adequately carry multiple signals in a robust reliable package. While other types of connector systems, such as those used in conventional stereo applications, carry multiple signals in a more robust single pin, the pins do so over a single conductive surface and do not have the ability of being impedance matched with a corresponding jack. As a result, such devices have high noise and cannot provide high signal transfer speeds.
These and other drawbacks are found in current connector systems.
What is needed is a connector system that has increased speeds, but retains high reliability, even at high signal density.